Red Gold
by ahgem2000
Summary: Intense? you got it! Harry and Ginny in love after the first kiss. Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. No financial gain has been derived out of ‘Red Gold’ in any form or disguise.
1. Beyond and Farther

A/N: Story has been revised and edited on 12/15 for some clarifications, just something that kept nagging me 

**Chapter 1: Beyond and Farther**

Ginny unclasped her fingers entangled with Harry's and enveloped his hands in hers: stroking and caressing them as they encircled her, her eyes closed and her consciousness lost in blissful sensations. A while later awareness dawned upon her of a second blissful sensation; she opened her eyes realizing that Harry was totally absorbed and lost in doing something. She let him continue for some time; but when Harry showed no signs of breaking up from what he was doing, she leaned her neck a bit more towards her left to break his concentration with the movement.

_Bugger! That only made her neck more open and convenient for him._

Harry showed no signs of lifting his head from her shoulder: smirking, she turned her head slowly and nuzzled his cheek softly to get his attention. Harry froze, caught! Also, Ginny's mouth was too close to his mouth; he was certain she had deliberately left it open. Warm air currents were caressing the corners of his mouth each time she exhaled; cold sensation tingled complementarily each time she inhaled.

_Teasing witch!_

Harry moved his head to cover the hairbreadth and capture her lips…

"Are you...?" Ginny quizzed with one raised eyebrow pointing her eyes towards her nape. "Nice blush!", she finished with a cheeky grin; Ginny had backed away her head a little to open up a conversation…actually two parallel conversations.

_who talks too much…_

Harry stared ahead at their hands considering the possibility of nipping this conversation; smiling slyly at the thought, he slowly bent his head to brazenly plant a firm kiss on a particular freckle at Ginny's nape, one more last time. Harry ended up kissing it three times more in quick successions and noticed out of the corner of his eye, an almost imperceptible twitch of Ginny's nose muscles in response.

"Yeah, the same one." He raised his head to challenge her eyes while replying matter-of-factly. "Blush, huh? At least my elbows are butter-free." Harry returned to stare at her mouth unabashedly noticing for the first time the specks of black dots on the tip of her tongue.

Ginny closed her mouth quickly noticing the dare on his face. It was still surreal for her to believe that she was nestled with Harry in such an intimate manner at her favourite spot by the lake, although, the whole of Gryffindor House had witnessed Harry's inner most desire take form of a smacking passionate kiss with Ginny Weasely, not more than thirty minutes ago in the common room. Nervous though but she was not the one to chicken out to his cockiness.

"How many times?" Ginny willed him to make eye contact again. "And can we let it go now? That happened a long, long, long time ago".

_The cheek! Is that butter dish ever going to be expunged from my life? Not bloody likely!_

In response, Ginny saw Harry take hold of one of her hands and bring it closer, opening up the palm with a single effortless stroke, cupping it to guide it to his mouth for a soft kiss right in the middle followed by hard graze of his nose and lips. The eroticism of the sight of the act preceded the sensation it brought to Ginny's body. Ginny's wide eyes stared in awe at the boy she had given up on, for the un-inhibited display of desire that he had flung at her. Her eyes shut close for a second to let out a breath; and hear him stutter,

"Emmm… maybe about a hundred...or two...err hundred. I don't know." Harry kissed her palm again following it with a few more kisses towards her wrist. "Yeah it was a long time ago…but I remember it very, very vividly."

Dragging her mind away from the sensations on her wrist, Ginny absorbed the answer.

"What? A HUNDRED!!! OR TWO!!! That's crazy, Harry." Harry still hadn't bothered to make eye contact with her. Instead, he was busy pulling the neckline of her sundress askew to expose the smooth mound of her right shoulder and the solid single mole on her right arm. She watched him draw minute circles on the mole first with a forefinger and as if it wasn't enough, following the finger with his thumb to trace elaborate circles. "Yeah you sure would. I don't even want to think about it. But wait! Why would you? Remember my clumsiness, I mean."

Harry finally raised his head to meet her eyes reflecting a deep shade of tenderness and a bright hue of confidence she did not credit him to possess, especially, when it came to talking to girls.

"Hey! That happens to be my favourite freckle on your body." The assured tone of his voice suggested a sense of possession and belonging between lovers she never thought could be achieved in such a short span of time. "I loved it when you squealed and ran away like that. I loved the attention and hoped that you liked me in some sort of way, any way."

He was staring at her mouth again.

_Cocky bastard!_

"WHAT! freckles on my _body_? When did you…" Ginny whispered in disbelief trying hard not to feel conscious of her mouth being watched so closely, but was immediately distracted by the realization of the suggestive connotation in her innocent and impulsive question. "And you can't have wanted me to like you back then, Harry."

For the sake of the conversation, Harry lowered his gaze only to get mesmerized by _that_ freckle again. He immediately kissed it softly and then smacked on it hard as if to drive home the point.

Stretching out his legs he let his lower-back drop to the ground and guided Ginny to face him. Ginny turned a little in the confines of his long legs and looked with uncertainty into Harry's eyes only to find in them the certitude of a magician who knows his show through and through. His hold on her arms coaxed her to turn around completely and with a gentle pull and a steady gaze, he let her know what he wanted of her. His hands were pulling her closer and his gaze was saying much more than what she ever wanted to hear. She turned around to lay on top of him _completely - _her hair spilling over either shoulder. If their earlier position was intimate, this was beyond and farther. Harry kept pulling to slide her closer, higher. Ginny was determined not to break their steady gaze or blush or get flustered: to show him who had more experience in the business here.

_The blasted freckles and moles._

But Ginny was oblivious to the fact that Harry had lived this moment in his imagination and dreams every single moment for the last six months. Her face framed by the glorious _red gold;_ she was still not close enough. He pulled her higher until they were nose to nose. His hands finally got to hold and feel his wealth as he gently rubbed a few precious strands between his fingers. He wanted to tell her that he happened to discover the freckle merely by chance and that the gold that he was after was spilling on her shoulders.

Her brave attempt to cover up her demureness and vulnerability was killing him; but it wasn't enough to dampen the feeling of exaltation that he was the very reason for this affectation.

_Trust me Gin, I can't let go now_.

He tilted his head to the left and lost his breath to the incense of pure bliss.

X-X-X


	2. Secrets

**Chapter 2: Secrets**

Ginny felt heady sensing Harry's breath inhaling the scent of her hair. They lay frozen for a long time with a mere hint of life in the subtle movement of Harry's head, as he was trying not to miss out on breathing in a single strand cascading over her shoulder on to his face. A good while later Ginny realized that Harry was lost, yet again.

She called him in by turning her cheek firmly against his nose and ended up getting a soft kiss just under her earlobe as Harry dropped a heavy breath and snapped out of his trance momentarily before he continued his respiring ritual again. Ginny had never imagined breathing would render her so breathless. She took a deep breath, brought one hand to Harry's cheek and slid the other into his hair.

Harry's eyes were still half closed as she leaned in to bring him back with a hard kiss on his partly open lips; within no time he was awakened to a far engaging diversion.

Aeons later both were left heaving nose to nose with Ginny's head cushioned on one of Harry's hands on the grass; the other hand clutched tightly at her, now somehow, bare waist.

"Let's take a walk around the lake." Harry raised himself from Ginny's supine form and moved away presto taking deep calming breaths.

"Chicken, are we?" Ginny got up quickly and placed a soft hand on his arm. She was thrilled to see Harry in such turmoil knowing that she was the cause but a far greater satisfaction came from knowing that she alone was the calming balm. She wanted him to look at her then …with eyes burning with desire; years of longing would get dissolved in that one look of desperation on his handsome face. She had yearned and prayed for six long years; she was definitely not letting it go.

"Don't push it Ginny. You have no idea." Harry fought hard not to turn to look at her knowing that she was thoroughly enjoying his predicament and was smug beyond satiation by his response to her mildly passionate kiss. He prayed she would let it go at least for now. Living his dream for the short few minutes was enough to take him through a few more lifetimes of longing for Ginny Weasely.

"Ok, walk we will….if you tell me your secret." Ginny pushed anyway.

Harry knew exactly what she was talking about.

"I have no secrets," he replied innocently trying his best to ignore the soft touch on his arm.

Ginny's hairline and ears were still tingling with the residual caresses of his nose. She had no idea her mane would evoke so much wistfulness within him. She instantly knew that he had done this before not just once but many times. Her dreams were merely banal compared to what had just transpired. She wanted him to come clean and make it corporeal.

"Okay, then tell me about the sniffing ritual." Ginny was not the one to give up easily, rather at all, in such circumstances.

_Busted!_ Harry couldn't help but laugh. This was Ginny after all. _Now, his Gin_.

He wanted to give her the joy of his confession. He knew she would not laugh it off although it was just that - utterly and completely laughable. To see her face light up with happiness out of pure contentment, and her eyes tender with reciprocity, when he admitted to his obsession with her hair, would be a prize memory to keep forever. But he wanted something more.

"If I tell you my secret you have to tell me yours - a secret for a secret. That's the deal. Take it or leave it." Harry persisted challengingly to her mirthful brown eyes.

"But I have no secrets to tell or no hair sniffing rituals to talk about." Ginny gleamed defiantly, engaging his green eyes in an unyielding lock.

They had begun their walk around the lake. The sensation of their occasionally brushing fingers was as much as Harry could take at this time. Ginny did not try to hold his hand in hers.

"Everybody has one." Harry wasn't relenting. "And I want to know yours before I tell you mine, _Gin,_" he added softly, spanning her eyes.

_What on earth was he on about? And how was it a secret if he already knew about it? Beat that! _

Ginny's brain got busy churning out happenstances that one would categorize as secrets.

_Could it be he knows about THAT!? …or that! …or that! Jesus! She was screwed. What all does he know? He definitely knows something…at least one thing. _

"Well, if you want me to invent one, I sure can." Ginny countered keeping her gaze fixed not missing the swaying of his eyeballs. She was Gred and Forge's sister after all.

Harry sensed the fever of panic behind the façade of a deliberate smile. Ginny was trying hard to hide behind the curtain of nonchalance she was struggling to weave over the fragile walls of vulnerability accumulated over a long, long time of six years. Harry felt angry at himself for the pain he had unintentionally and unknowingly inflicted upon her, during these past six years that saw their relationship grow from a mere acquaintance to a close friendship, and ultimately, exploding into an attraction that was beyond the control of either individual involved. He wanted to give her every possible reason to feel the kind of happiness that would blast away every single cloud of sadness that had ever shrouded her heart. His own delirious soul had been longing for the companionship of her fiery spirit, for quite some time now.

"No doubt you can, but I will know it is so. Try the original, Gin.". Harry was enjoying this thoroughly now. A much-needed distraction from his earlier frenzied pursuit.

X-X-X


	3. Churning the cauldron

**Chapter 3: Churning the Cauldron**

"Oy! HARRY! GINNY!". Ron's sonorous voice reverberated over the silence of the night. Ginny noticed as Harry fought hard not to, almost imperceptibly, flinch. He turned around to look at Ron's fast approaching figure over the horizon. Torn at seeing his precious moments with Ginny slipping away, he looked back at her taking in all he could, burning her with such deep longing in his eyes that Ginny wished the sun had never set or she had never had any brothers.

"It's almost curfew time. Aren't you coming back to the castle?" Ron began defensively from afar, aware of his intrusion but evidently relaxed at finding them standing side by side. Ginny was glad for his timing and shuddered at the thought of the calamity an earlier intrusion would have brought.

For the first time in his life Harry was not glad to see Ron. Harry gave Ginny a last lonely gaze and an understanding passed between them that it was her chance to deal with Ron now. Tearing his eyes from hers, he looked at Ron waiting for her to answer.

"Yeah, we were coming in," Ginny replied calmly. Her prat of a brother was adorable at times; the glee on his face was unmistakable, and he never dithered from pushing his luck.

"Snogged my sister all you can, have you? It's high time you two came inside now." Ron could not help his grin spread the widest.

The innocence of the question and the banter intended was not lost on Harry but as much as there was benediction in letting friends have their moments, there definitely was greater benefit from setting the record straight the very first time.

"No Ron, one last kiss is still remaining." Ginny watched mortified as Harry drew closer and slid his hands in her hair and first drank in her lower lip, then grazed his open lips all over hers and then drank harder on her upper lip ending the elaborate act with a resounding smack.

"For today."

Ron was frozen in shock and he watched Harry walk away throwing callously over his shoulder,

"I will see you guys later in the Great Hall."

A good while later Ron looked at his sister to find her watching Harry's distant retreating back in awe like a child looking up to her icon. It had been over three years when he last saw that look on her face. And he realized with a sense of defeat that Ginny was going to need some help to snap out of it at the moment, nothing that the sound of a clearing throat could not achieve.

Ginny gradually came back to consciousness but was not yet ready to acknowledge the presence of her brother because doing so would make him a real witness.

_Harry Potter, you can't have just done that! Somebody pinch me._

She tried but mortification prevented her from looking Ron in the eye.

Ron placed his arm around her shoulders and propelled her into motion towards the castle doors. Ginny held his hand walking dazed under the heavy silence.

"Thanks Ron," she croaked. She wanted to say more, apologize, but couldn't.

"It's okay, Gin. All boys are territorial wankers when it comes to their girl," Ron's shaky voice conveyed he was much more affected than he was letting her know.

"When did your friend turn into such a stud?" Ginny sought to lighten the mood.

_And when did you stop being so... 'Ron'! _

"I think the moment he kissed you in the common room, Gin. I mean what was he thinking? The whole bloody school is in chaos. The girls are going crazy. The teachers are excited as if he has bloody topped up their exams. The news has spread wilder than the Great Blaze. And now all this display. Jeez! I will never get over it, Gin! Perhaps, that's what he had in mind."

"Really. Does every girl in the world know about it? And what do you mean by the last part?"

"Don't worry. Every witch in the world now knows that Harry is in love with you. And that is precisely what Harry did, a few minutes ago. To mark you his own – in-front of your very own brother; you know like churning the cauldron after adding a new ingredient - giving it some time to reach a new steady equilibrium. He sought my approval after he kissed you but he wants to let me know that he wants more than that; he wants you _completely_ and he is giving me time to come to terms with it."

Ginny couldn't believe her ears – it was as if Ron had grown all four wisdom teeth in that one moment. Words of wisdom _coming from Ron's mouth_ were unheard of ever before. Mum and Dad might disown him suspecting him to be an impostor. Hell, even Hermione would have a hard time believing this was Ron – her deranged boy friend.

The Great Hall froze the moment they entered the threshold. Each and every single eye shrouded in a myriad of emotions ranging from happiness to amusement and jealousy to hatred, was on Ginny – the girl Harry Potter had kissed in front of the whole Gryffindor house. Ginny and Ron walked self-consciously to their usual table where Hermione and Neville had saved seats for them but Ginny noticed that Harry was nowhere in sight.

_Stupid_ _bloody territorial wanker!_

Hermione was, as expected, perceptible enough to guess that something significant had transpired in the last twenty minutes and a discussion with Ginny in the dormitory was impending. A ho-hum of hushed conversations all around the Great Hall was a clear indication of the interest today's big event had evoked amongst the Hogwarts student as well as the teacher community.

Ginny and Ron ignored the sly glances and finished their dinner in record time with an all time record low appetite. Not a single word was spoken by anyone at their table. Although Ginny's friends and other well wishers were not so considerate.

"Hi, Ginny, congratulations!"

"Ginny, I am so happy for you."

"You finally nailed him Ginny. Way to go!"

"God Gin, you are so lucky! Congratulations!"

Ginny barely replied a meek thank-you to a few of those but it kept on pouring until…

X-X-X


	4. Creme Brulee

**Chapter 4: Crème Brulée**

A sudden quiet pervaded the Great Hall prompting everyone to look around for the reason.

Ginny too found herself looking around until she caught sight of Harry walking in with cool confidence towards their usual table. He did not bother to acknowledge anyone or indulge in any form of social courtesy towards the benevolent crowd anxious to wish him well. His focus was on Ginny and the unusual gait in his steps was enough to deter people from trying to vie for his attention.

Harry was happy and it showed; it showed in the beautiful smile that he wore and the assured steps that he took towards the one sole goal he wanted his life to be for. He knew that although Ginny was upset with him, she loved him too much to hold it against him. He was confident that he would convince her, later, that it had to be done, and that Ron would get over it in no time. Only her beautiful brown eyes had ever looked at him with anger and love at the same time.

Just as he reached his destination Harry turned his eyes to look at Ron with a cheeky grin that was meant to be a confession of sorts for his earlier dereliction, as well as an all encompassing apology that was supposed to set matters between them _status quo ante_.

"Hi! Ron. Hermione." The insouciance in Harry's voice was not lost on his best friends, even though they were looking at him as if he had just disembarked from a space ship.

Anyone who happened to look at Ron's face then would see in two split-seconds how much Ron felt for Harry over and above the obvious reality of their friendship. Ron's eyes chastised Harry half-heartedly and at the same time emanated a forgiving warmth towards him that evaporated the last even traces of diffidence that Harry might have felt earlier, although it was highly doubtful that he felt any, at all.

"Finally decided to come back to earth to join us, have you?" Ron quipped casually.

This was Ron's moment; Harry let him bask.

"Hi!" Harry transferred his eyes on Ginny giving her his deadliest smile. Ginny was eyeing him with the forgiving glare of a mother whose favourite and only son has owned up to doing something very naughty and not nice.

"Sorry I didn't come earlier, wasn't feeling hungry at all. I don't mind a bit of dessert though." Harry gave her one last promising look and turned his attention to Neville who was sitting on her right,

"Hey Neville!"

Picking up a goblet of Crème Brulée from the floating array of served dishes, he walked around the table to stand behind Neville and Ginny. Neville took the cue and shifted to his right giving him as much space as he could. Harry didn't mind squeezing in between them in the non-existent space, his left side all on fire.

"You do like Crème Brulée Ginny, right?" Harry asked superfluously. It was her absolute favourite and everyone knew it. Ginny would trade even her first Harry Potter doll for it. Shoulders squeezed, he scooped a spoonful and held it to her mouth.

Ginny immediately realized that this time he was giving her the opportunity to refuse or take part in the flamboyant public act to follow, on her own calling. If she turned it down, she might only be blowing a few mildly noxious fumes into their sweet little nebulous romance but if she chose to participate, willingly, she would be equally responsible for this very public display of affection and given his recent guise, Harry might feel challenged to top it up further.

Ginny tentatively opened her mouth and took in the delicious spoonful of custard. Harry looked at her for a long moment as if to ensure that the taste was to her liking but, mercifully, handed her the spoon, although in her left hand, while he entwined her right in his left, playing with her fingers absently. Harry was seated squished with the look of a satisfaction of a hundred lives well lived on his face.

As Harry turned around to face his friends, Hermione immediately gave him the third degree,

"Harry, have you completed Snape's essay? It's due tomorrow."

Harry and Ron looked at Hermione in disbelief as if she had sprung out a few horns on her head, then looked at each other and sniggered, leaving Neville to explain.

"Hermione, does it look like Harry is in any shape to write Snape's essay? Do you think Snape would give him bonus marks after reading about Ginny's flaming freckles and heavenly hair?" Both Harry and Ginny's heads zapped at Neville's outrageous remark while Ron sided with Hermione this time as the couple sniggered all they could.

As if bidding time to reply, Harry caught Ginny's wrist and guided the next spoonful into his own mouth, gulped, then made an elaborate smacking sound, and cleared his throat before saying,

"Ah, yeah, guess the git doesn't love me all that much, does he now? So can I borrow your essay Hermione…"

As she nibbled away the remaining crème, Ginny vaguely heard Hermione lecture them about the virtues of doing their own work but of course it as was pointless as making them eat greens and salads. Amidst the ongoing conversation on the table about a spell called '_S__omneventus R__eserova_' that the seventh-years had learned recently, Ginny's own mind finally found time to reflect on their earlier conversations. _Secrets!_ It felt more weird than thrilling to think that Harry knew her secret. But how?

_And which one?_

That she still slept with her first Harry Potter doll under her pillow.

That she _loved_ him and never gave up on him, _ever_.

That she had considered giving Cho an anti-love potion.

That the treacle tart that he thanked her Mum for every year on his birthday was

in fact baked by her, this year.

That the black Weasley jumper he got for Christmas this year was knitted by her.

That she had already nicked his first Weasley jumper in his third year.

_Which one, which one, which one? _

Thankfully no one on the table was trying to draw her into the on-going conversation. But the moment Ginny downed the last spoon, Harry clasped his fingers tightly around hers and turned around to whisper softly in her ear,

" Are you ready, can we go now?"

Ginny gave him a bright complacent smile knowing exactly what he had in mind – to get to know her secret and snog her senseless some more.

That was the first time ever when Ginny Weasely didn't utter a word at the dinner table.

X-X-X


	5. Not Yet There

**Chapter 5: Not Yet There**

Ginny wished Harry would let go of her hand as the couple rose to take their leave of the dinner gathering. Their table was most inopportunely placed: first in line from the staff table and all way down from the Great Hall exit. Harry might as well be making an official declaration out of it, in leading her by the hand.

Ginny pointedly avoided looking at the staff table but Harry ensured he looked Dumbledore in the eye and elicited from him a secret smile, a sly nod and a mere hint of a toast which Harry returned with his own half a smile under sparkling green eyes.

Hagrid was positively beaming as he waited for his turn to catch Harry's eye. Only Harry or Norbert was capable of bringing the tenderness of a rose petal on the giant's pink pudgy face. Hagrid timidly raised his hand in a gesture that disguised a warm blessing under a casual greeting.

Prof. McGonagall's almost tearful face belied the motherly feelings she had for Harry hidden underneath her stern demeanour. Although she was not expecting him to, Harry looked up at her and gave her a quick a warm, yet respectful smile that acknowledged the secret of her un-expressed happiness.

Having executed his duty towards his three mentors, Harry turned to his friends, and flashed them a guilty smile,

"We'll see you later. Bye Ron, Hermione, Neville," causing Ron to almost jump from his seat.

"It's will soon be curfew time Harry. You can't go out now." Ron knew the kind of regard, or lack of it, Harry had for school rules.

"Don't worry. I won't get your _sister_ in trouble." Harry immediately silenced him with a naughty smile and a voice that reflected the finality and confidence of a man in control.

With that he gently pulled Ginny to the middle of the aisle that lead them to the exit right across the length of the Great Hall. Harry clasped her fingers tighter and slightly bent his head to look down into her eyes.

"You wouldn't worry about getting caught, would you?" He gave up trying to wipe that silly grin off his face; it was no use since it kept coming back no matter what.

"Only as much as you would." Ginny came up with her first witty remark that evening. For a girl who was capable of beating the likes of Fred and George's combined forces in a war of wits, this evening had been a complete washout. Harry had rendered her dazed and speechless by surprising her at each turn, ever since their first kiss in the common room. The intensity she felt in his possessiveness of her, in a mere hour of courtship, was blasting off her complacency and devastating the solid walls of emotional detachment she had built around her defeated heart, beginning the day Harry had started dating Cho. In all of the past three years, dating boys that were not Harry, she had always known that she was not '_there'_ – only with them, but not '_there'_. And now Harry was delirious in love and Ginny was only getting _there_, all because she had retracted so far back in a shell, tripping on her wasted dreams, that it was bound to take a little while, and all of Harry's new found flambouyance, to pull her back on level.

Only after their exit into the corridor, the remaining occupants of the Great Hall could heave a sigh heard so far as the Quidditch grounds. In about half a second the silence was replaced by an earth shattering conundrum.

As soon as they exited the Great Hall and turned a couple of steps into the corridor, Harry spun Ginny around and pulled her against him smacking a solid kiss on her surprised and parted lips. His hands were wedged into strands of her hair and he was kissing her with the fierce intensity of a lover left bereft for too long; within no time Harry had lost control and was filled with nothing but thoughts of ravaging her in his mind, until a few persistent catcalls woke him up to the realization of their vicinity to the exit of the Great Hall whose occupants included his mentors, teachers and Ginny's brother, Ron.

Harry grunted but gave her one last quick kiss and dragged her across the corridor, his mind engaged in quickly planning their evening, or what was left of it, together. Harry was trying hard not to feel upset, even imperceptibly, in sensing a certain un-indulgence on Ginny's part, in her response to Harry's overtures so far, but he was determined to shatter, completely, that shell around her heart

Harry quickly A_ccioed_ his invisibility cloak all the way from his dormitory in Gryffindor Towers and once again, wordlessly, lead Ginny out onto the grounds but this time away from the lake towards the broom shed.

Once seated on his Firebolt, Harry finally settled his eyes on Ginny who was standing quietly by the door and watching Harry all the while he took to retrieve his other beloved possession. Harry held out a hand as he looked, at Ginny, with the first signs of diffidence since their first kiss, although his contemplation was only short-lived. The decision to carry on was made involuntarily for him when his uncertain gaze turned intense on it's own accord, throwing her a lover's challenge to come with him beyond the realms of heaven and earth and everything in between. A slow mischievous smile formed at the corners of his mouth assuring Ginny that she trusted him more than herself and that his life was hers, o_nly hers._

Ginny knew her inhibition was self-imposed and accepted that it was no longer valid as soon as her heart crushed to smithereens seeing that tiny flicker of uncertainty in Harry's eyes before he held out his hand to her. His vulnerability in that one moment was, to her, akin to a lifetime of longing; she knew, then and there, that the wall around her heart had been broken down and shattered, completely, in that one instant.

After this epiphany, it was easy to take up the challenge in his eyes and walk into him, invading beyond his personal space.

Harry noticed the incursion on his senses but just one sensation prevailed – the hair breadth fanning their lips with a warmth hazier than the rays of mercury. Only the obscure remains of his momentary deliberation kept him from ravaging her on the spot. Nevertheless, he didn't need to; Ginny did not waver a heartbeat in closing the gap between them with a firm kiss on his lower lip as she went on to rehash, with great consideration, Harry's flamboyant signature kiss which Ron had witnessed earlier.

Harry's Firebolt was quivering by the time Ginny pulled back and seated herself gingerly in his lap. Knowing for certain that Harry's veins were frozen, Ginny lifted his arms to circle around her tiny waist, determined to bring back the Harry who had got lost just a few moments ago.

X-X-X


	6. The Inquisition Begins

**Chapter 6: The Inquisition Begins**

Harry couldn't tell who had initiated the kick off, but his Firebolt had zoomed up into the air and gained considerable height by the time Harry realized that his legs were not on the ground. Glorious strands of Ginny's hair were fanning Harry's face alluring him to bury his face in the precious red gold treasure and to lose, completely, all other sensory perceptions.

_It was the first time Ginny had indulged him. _

Harry pulled Ginny tighter and closer to reinforce the realization that Ginny had deliberately replicated the kiss which was his signature of possessiveness and belonging. That Ginny would choose the very moment when he was feeling vulnerable beyond redemption, to resonate his sentiments, gave him hope that the Ginny was already _there _with him, in the realm of all or nothing

With a deep sigh of satisfaction Harry nuzzled Ginny's hair and found his favourite freckle at the nape to give it a warm kiss: absently hoping for another sign of intemperance from Ginny, to fulfill and contain his vaporous spirit.

Ginny felt Harry's arm pull her in tighter, and immediately reclined in the relaxing warmth of his body that was adequate to send shivers down her spine. She sensed Harry's breath at her nape and angled her neck sideways to betray that freckle she knew he wanted so badly.

Harry got the assurance he wanted in the form of the quiver that he felt on her embracing arms: the intimate crush of her trembling body against his own heightened frame and the pleading damnable freckle at the nape of her neck. He kissed it with such abandon that it left Ginny with no other choice but to turn around and melt into him, completely, with a matching, if not greater, wantonness.

Harry only had to lift his head to see the surrender in Ginny's half lidded eyes. It was surreal for him to witness his most sacred dreams re-played in reality and Harry could only do so much as to close his eyes and lose himself in her completely.

_Ginny was finally there with him. _

Ginny held him, tighter and tighter, until she felt him within herself, completely and thoroughly inside her soul as he kissed and grazed her skin all over, and drank her in with the thirst of a lifetime.

The passing birds and clouds would have cheered heavily but for the cloak of invisibility.

The lovers broke their embrace only when Zeus gently tapped the first drops of summer rain on their eternally parched souls. Awoken from their trance, Harry and Ginny smiled at each other with a tinge of blush on their cheeks at their own wantonness, and nothing but glee at each other's.

"Are we going for a rain-dance?" Ginny asked with twinkling eyes.

"If you would like to. Then we can remove all our clothes to dry them later," Harry replied with a mischievous grin and placed a soft kiss on Ginny's red hot cheeks.

Ginny's eyes went wide like saucers but she recovered immediately, "You mean the Great Harry Potter can't do a simple drying charm? How strange? Well, don't worry, you can go right ahead and remove your clothes to dry them. I'll make sure I'll watch over…err… them."

Harry looked at her with patronizing amusement. She had no idea how devastating the mere thought of nakedness was on his senses, when it involved her, rain or no rain. He gave her a devilish smile and …..

"_Augamenti."_ They were both soaked to their bones before Ginny could blink. "Whatever you want Gin."

Rain drops were bouncing off their invisibility cloak as the couple sat drenched under the, now useless, shelter.

Ginny gaped at Harry with her mouth open in utter shock, speechless, as she looked at his roguish smile. Harry quickly kissed her on the mouth, taking advantage of her shocked state, asking for redemption; but this time Ginny pushed him away instead of melting into him. Harry sensed her antipathy but the sheer desperation to sustain their embrace pumped his overactive reflexes into hugging her tight against his body. Ginny's impulse to break away from his bone crushing hug was drowned in Harry's runaway heart-beat that let her know his dire need for her touch at that moment. Any reluctance that might have still lingered in Ginny's mind was immediately destroyed: smiling, she hugged him back, and sensed him relax from the trepidation that he was in at the prospect of losing contact. A long moment after being indulged by her acquiescence to his need for being held, Harry relaxed his grip on her and looked at her with guilty, yet rightful eyes.

Ginny grinned at him impishly, boldly nicking his wand in front of his very eyes and holding it out of his reach.

"_Aerossicus!" _Ginny waved his borrowed wand to let the air-drying charm work its magic on her alone, as she retuned his gaze with a warm and mildly forgiving smile. Unfortunately, the charm was not strong enough to completely dry her soaked body heavy with soggy robes.

Harry laughed at her devilishness in casting the drying charm only on herself and leaving him soaked. He shook his head to and fro sending a spray of droplets on her face, and then thumbed the few drops that hung like dew on her lips.

"Allow me. _Estussicus!_" Harry muttered the heat-drying charm to the effect of both their bodies and clothes drying instantly.

Ginny seemed to be making a habit out of it as she gaped at him, yet again, to manage a whisper,

"Harry! That was wandless! …and bloody powerful!"

Harry merely nodded with a knowing smile, for the first time feeling proud of his odd abilities. Ginny was staring at him in awe completely at a loss for words being, yet again, reminded how special Harry really was. She hugged him tight and said,

"I thought you were going to dry your clothes the Muggle way".

"Some other day. Tonight I need to talk to you and I don't think I can survive the distraction from anything involving diminution of clothes."

"Right. Are we going to talk here then… or we don't want the clouds and the birds listening in?"

Harry laughed and pulled up the broom handle to ascend higher and steer them towards the castle.

"Let's go somewhere we can get rid of this cloak. It's far too restricting."

"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Ginny stopped him quickly before they moved much farther.

Harry looked at her questioningly.

"First, do a Wronsky with me."

"A Wronsky?" Harry was not sure he had heard her right.

"Yes," Ginny maintained.

"Now?" Harry was still un-convinced.

"Yes, now. I have always loved to watch you do it," Ginny mentioned casually.

"Watching it and doing it are two entirely different things, Ginny." Harry's tone had turned into a warning by now.

"I am sure you would want me to do it with you rather than trying to learn on my own, right?" Ginny challenged.

Harry sensed the defiance in her tone and knew that he was done for. He had no choice but to show her the feint.

"Hmm, so that's why you wanted me for a boyfriend. I knew it couldn't have been that easy."

"Well you do have a great body too."

"Oh really, do I? Well, I will be glad to give you a full demo…" Harry glared at her.

"Uh uh, maybe later, when I have nothing better to see. Let's see you do the feint for now." Ginny dismissed his glare with a saccharine sweet smile.

"All right, but just for the record, you are mad. Hold on tight." Harry kissed her cheek quickly allowing her time to adjust her position on the broom.

Harry ascended the broom at a very high speed and raced down even faster as Ginny held the broom tightly enjoying the dangerous thrill coursing through her body at the sight of the fast approaching ground. Only a few feet from the ground Harry automatically pulled the broom up, albeit it was a bit earlier than the time he would have done otherwise; Ginny let him know that she had noticed it by the look she gave him the moment their ascent began.

"You _had_ to do that, right?" Ginny was trying hard not to get angry with him for his unnecessary conservatism.

"Yes, I had to; can't take any chances with you," Harry answered remorselessly with finality.

Ginny decided to let it go, feeling positively pleased in some corners of her heart but mostly un-flattered in the others,

"All right, let's talk now."

Harry steered the broom towards the highest turret of the castle situated in the center of the structure, and deftly landed them on the roof. Ginny waited patiently for him to guide her further as she was sure Harry wouldn't want them to sit on the curvature of a roof top in pouring rain, while revealing their secrets.

Harry muttered a spell she knew not, and a section of the roof slid over to reveal an opening into a possible chamber down below. Harry held the Firebolt vertical and slipped his arm around Ginny and stepped into the opening, gliding them down for a soft landing on to the floor. Ginny gasped at what she saw once inside the chamber; Harry slid the roof tile back into place in the meantime.

"Like it?"

Ginny was holding her hands to her cheeks and subconsciously trying to cover her mouth which refused to close down.

What seemed to be solid walls of stone from outside were in fact lined up with huge open windows visible only from inside, giving a spectacular all around aerial view of the castle from a very high centre point. Before Ginny could turn around a full circle, Harry had grabbed her and bent her backwards in his arms kissing her softly on the lips. Taken completely by surprise, Ginny's heart went racing as Harry freed one of his hands and placed it on her eyes, closing them gently.

Bracing herself for a deeper kiss, Ginny was surprised on sensing Harry lift his head away from hers as he softly commanded "Open your eyes."

Ginny opened her eyes to a spectacular view of the clouds pouring glittering drops of rain on them only to be blocked away by an invisible barrier in the form of the transparent ceiling.

Harry sat them down and silently asked her to lie down on the floor with him, nestling her in his arm. Ginny silently wondered at the spectacle above and around her as she noticed that there weren't any stairs leading up to the chamber and the only way in was to fly in.

"It's amazing, Harry. How did you find this place?"

"The castle is my _home_. I ought to know every nook and corner. Or call it the few advantages of spending far too many Christmas holidays alone in the castle."

"It's absolutely beautiful. Thanks, for bringing me…"

"Don't. I couldn't have possibly waited even a day longer to share this with you. You can't imagine how many nights I have spent on this floor wishing you were here with me."

"Really, that many? Since when?" Harry knew that this was the first of the many secrets that would be revealed tonight.

"Guess?"

"No, I am not guessing. You could have been lusting after me from the day we first met at King's Cross, for all I know, you wanker."

"Not really, I was waiting for you to develop some boobs since you were sort of only a tiny kid back then."

"HARRY!!" Ginny thumped him hard on his shoulder and gave him a death glare.

X-X-X


	7. Somneventus Reserova

**Chapter 7: Somneventus Reserova**

Harry abruptly pulled Ginny on top of him and crushed her hard in his arms leaving Ginny in no doubt as to his intentions behind the pulverizing power of his hug.

"Well, the wait was worth every little while, if I may say so."

_There is no way you are getting away with that Harry Potter_.

Ginny looked him in the eyes, seeing right through his deliberation. As soon as Harry relaxed his hold on her, she gripped his shoulders tightly and slid herself higher up along the length of his body, ensuring that Harry couldn't escape, every tiny bit of friction that her body could inflict on his skin. Harry's nose grazed her lips, then chin and then the long column of her neck as Ginny slithered, higher and higher in excruciatingly slow motion. Ginny finally stopped when she had reached high enough, to assault Harry's nose with the ambrosial fragrances hidden under the scooping neckline of her sun dress caught stretched between their compressed bodies.

Ginny merely whispered a kiss on his forehead as she enveloped his head in her arms and snuggled his face closer into her body.

"Ginny!" Harry was lost in a completely new world of unbidden and unfathomable sensations, fighting hard to cope with the sensory overload that Ginny's antics were inflicting on his body.

"Worthy enough, huh?" Ginny asked cattily.

Harry could take it no more and flipped them over grinding his body into hers, desperate to get closer than palpable or possible. He kissed every exposed curvature of her skin, with the unfaltering reverence of a devotee surrendering himself to the ultimate divinity. His hands sought for more bare skin at her waist as he dipped his head lower.

Ginny abated his splurge by slipping her hands in his hair and tugging him gently to slide him up on level with her, face to face. Ginny was overwhelmed to see the effect she had over him, reflected in the defeated look in his eyes as he fought to overcome his need to touch her. _Harry was powerless._

"That doesn't qualify as talking, Har…"

Harry silenced her with a deep kiss clinging on to whatever appeasement her lips could offer to his hay-wire senses. Ginny could feel his struggle in the wavering pressure of his mouth on hers until…

Harry tore himself from her and walked away abruptly towards the tall column at centre of the chamber supporting the ceiling. He put his arms around the column to support himself and closed his eyes in defeat.

"Ginny, I… I'm … I 'm _not _sorry. All I want to do is kiss you, kiss you and kiss you until I have no more kisses left to give or take. I have just no power over my senses when you are near."

At that moment Ginny wanted nothing more than to give herself to him, completely and unconditionally: to go with him wherever, in that black hole of powerlessness, his senses wanted to take him to.

"Harry, come here, let's sit down." Ginny gently turned him around and guided him to sit against the pillar. He looked at her gratefully as she brushed his hair back with her fingers and simply asked, "Since when?"

"Six months." Harry stared back at her.

Ginny's eyebrows raised in surprise as she took in the unexpected information, "Any specific reason?"

"No."

Ginny kept looking at him with doubtful eyes but said nothing.

"What?" Harry bemused.

"Nothing. The reason," Ginny said matter-of-factly.

"Would you believe it if I told you that the reason is sitting at the nape of your neck?" Harry gave in.

"Don't be cheesy Harry," Ginny exasperated.

"It's not my fault. It's yours – that freckle!" Harry sounded lame even to his own ears.

"Humph! Why the sudden love with my blighted freckle then?"

"It's very far-fetched … _and cheesy,_ but true."

"I believe you," Ginny encouraged him to go on.

"I must have first noticed it when I had picked you up in my arms in the _Chamber._" Harry surprised himself by the lack of embarrassment relating the incident to Ginny.

Ginny almost gasped. Harry was looking at her intently.

"I saw a flash about it in a dream about six months ago - just the part where I picked you up. I saw my young self looking at it and felt myself being subconsciously fascinated by it amidst all that danger that had passed."

"So you _were_ lusting after me even back then… huh?"

"Like I said…"

"Don't even go there, Harry."

"All right, I won't. That dream sort of awakened my dormant fascination with … err … this piece of insanity on your neck."

"Six months ago! Harry, you were with Cho."

"Err… I had to break up with her, didn't I? It was not working out and … I kept being drawn to you more and more every passing day."

"Me or my damned freckle?"

"Primarily the freckle…"

"Harry!"

"Until the day I saw some other freckles on your body."

"What!"

"And kissed the one on your neck."

"WHAT?!"

"You heard me."

"WHEN?"

"And fell in love with it."

"HARRY!"

"Promise me you won't get angry?"

"As if I'm not already."

"I have to say that it suits you very..."

Ginny ignored the cheeky flattery. "Hmm…Where were we? You _saw_ other freckles on my body AND kissed my freckle. WHEN did that happen?"

Harry tried hard to suppressed the smile playing at is lips at the thought of his first kiss of Ginny Weasely, albeit a stolen one; the moment was nothing short of magical. He looked her straight in the eye, momentarily distracted by her parted lips waiting for his explanation, and spoke in a deliberate steady tone,

"Remember your birthday party last year when everyone crashed for the night in the living room?"

Ginny hardly managed to ignore the cheeky flicker of his gaze towards her lips.

"Yeah. Hermione and I slept on the couch I think, and you slept on the floor along with Ron and others."

"Well, ever wondered how come you woke up in your room the next morning?"

Harry could sense the gears in her mind shifting to come to speed with the insinuation of Harry's question.

"Umm… I figured I must have climbed up the stairs to my room some time in the night. Never gave it much thought. But apparently that is not what happened, right?"

"Right, umm… it so happened that I carried you upstairs in my arms."

Ginny looked at him with disbelief written all over her face.

"No way. You couldn't have..."

"I did."

"With all my brothers around? Why?"

Harry cleared his throat unnecessarily, "Ahmm…why? Because I was an opportunist pig."

"That's not good enough, Harry."

"But that's exactly what it was. I couldn't resist. I just wanted to hold you again like I saw it in my dream and you were far too uncomfortable on that couch with Hermione hogging most of it. I didn't even think about your brothers finding out and murdering me," Harry just realized how lucky he really was that they actually didn't.

Ginny was amazed at the remarkable lack of embarrassment on Harry's face as he related the episode to her.

"I carried you up the stairs and laid you in your bed."

"And that's when…?"

"Yes. Your head was tilted the other way and I just saw it so close and couldn't resist. I gave it a quick peck and beat it before I lost my mind and did anything else."

"Yes of course, the gentleman that you are when you are not being an opportunistic pig, right?"

Harry was thanking his gods that Ginny had not combusted and blasted him out into outer space in an intractable orbit. If at all, Ginny was remarkably calm, understanding and forgiving regarding his delinquency, and he had an idea why.

"Okay. It's your turn now - a secret for a secret; that was the deal." Harry pushed his luck further.

"No way. I am not telling you anything."

"Ginny! You cannot back out now. I told you my big secret."

"Yes you did, but it's not the same. You have an undue advantage over me because clearly, you know something about me, and if I tell you something and that something is not the same something that you know about, I will end up telling you all my other things one by one."

Harry laughed and looked at her with wonder. She was adorable in hiding her vulnerability, layers and layers beneath her playful rant at the predicament she was in.

_It was time to come clean._

"Have you heard of the spell '_S__omneventus R__eserova_'?"

"No." Ginny was thoroughly confused by the sudden change in the subject of the conversation but was too pre-occupied to think much about it.

"We learned it about six months back."

_Again six months…How many blasted things happened six months ago?_

"It was one of the first spells we learned in sixth-year Charms."

Ginny's interest was piqued – certainly Harry was going somewhere with this story.

"It's a spell that allows you to choose one date in a year and reveal everything that happened to you or around you, on that night, every year while you were asleep."

Ginny's mind went scrambling to look for pieces of information to fit in to solve this puzzle that Harry was weaving.

"I chose my birthday since that's the only day of significance I could think of in my life."

The moment Ginny heard _birthday_ her mind went into a seizure. The whole puzzle resolved in an instant on its own and her worst fear was threatening to look at her straight in the eye in the form of Harry's deliriously happy green eyes.

"The first night was the night of my birth and I saw Mum and Dad ecstatic when I was born. Mum was tired beyond imagination but still held me in her arms and hugged my tiny body to her heart. Dad was so proud when he held me in his arms after a great deal of coaxing from Mum. He was afraid that he would break me into pieces if he just as much as touched me."

Ginny slipped her warm hand around Harry's neck and hugged him to her heart, momentarily forgetting the mortification that she knew was about to come.

Harry was surprised to find that his mind felt the same level of peace and security in Ginny's embrace as he did when he saw his mother hold him in her arms.

"The next few years were very depressing but the sight of my parents holding me in their arms that one night compensated for all those nights that I saw there after, until my eleventh birthday, when I saw nothing because I didn't sleep the whole night."

"You mean after you saw Hagrid come to take you to Hogwarts?" Ginny couldn't resist pulling his leg.

"Amazingly, in reality, I felt more secure in Hagrid's company than I ever felt before. It was the revelation of being a wizard and the prospect of getting away from the Dursleys that pumped my adrenalin into sleep deprivation."

Ginny got a glimpse of the warmth of Harry's feelings for Hagrid reflected in that one look in Harry's eyes, at that one moment. Hagrid was his first ever hope of deliverance from the Dursleys and for that alone Hagrid would hold a very special place in Harry's heart eternally.

"But Ginny, nothing in the world could have prepared me for what I saw for the night of my birthday, next year."

Ginny knew her time for hiding was done. It was the moment when her soul would be left standing bare naked in front of Harry and it would be up to him to embrace her and shield her in his arms or leave her shaky and vulnerable in mortification beyond redemption.

X-X-X


	8. Unguarded

**Chapter 8: Unguarded**

Harry couldn't help but admire the courage Ginny showed in tearing her eyes from the floor to look at him directly in the eyes, waiting for him to continue.

He fought the urge to smooth out the shadows on her face as he softly said, "I saw this spunky and adorable bundle of fleece with flowing red tresses, sneak into Ron's room just before midnight. She hesitated for a tiny moment at the door, but once determined, walked boldly to my bedside, sat down stealthily on her knees and gave a soft kiss on my scar and caressed my head by running her soft fingers through my hair a couple of times."

Ginny's eyes became misty as Harry described to her in painstaking detail, the most emotional event of her young life. It had taken enormous courage on her part to take those few steps from the door to Harry's bedside, and reach out to realize her dream of hugging Harry, wishing away all the troubles his young life had seen. She knew Harry would never realize that the empathy in that one kiss was enough to cure an army of battered souls.

"And this kissing.. ahmm_ ... ritual_ repeated every year for the next three years, the hesitation fading away each progressive year until the beginning of my sixteenth birthday when the said red head did not stop at merely pecking on my scar innocently. This time she thoroughly ravaged me and gave me a smacking toe curling kiss on my lips." Harry was thoroughly enjoying the sight of a profusely blushing Ginny as he kept adding more colours to the picture.

"Harry it was nothing like _ravaging..._", Ginny immediately glared at him for suggestively turning her innocent kiss into a blatant seduction scene.

"And gave the lamest excuse one could give for snogging a bloke one fancied in a nightdress revealing tons of enticing freckles…" Harry continued relentlessly.

"That kiss would hardly qualify as _snogging_, Harry… and my…" Ginny pleaded but to no avail.

"I am sorry Harry. I want my first kiss to be yours. I know Dean will kiss me at the Christmas Ball this year and I don't want him to be my first. I am sorry for stealing this kiss from you. I hope you will not mind," Harry mimicked in a girly voice.

Ginny turned red at Harry's crude imitation of her heartfelt little speech; she gave him one of her angry stares.

"Do you know how impossible it was for me to see you with Dean after the day I learned about this yearly tradition of yours … especially after seeing those freckles all over your body?" Harry egged on devilishly.

"Harry! For your information I really like that night dress and it would have been so un-sexy to get my first kiss bundled up in fleece!"

"Oh yeah! I like it too. But wouldn't it be more sexy if you didn't bother with the night dress at all."

"HARRY!"

"All right, maybe not… or later, but Gin, there surely was no fun in realizing that I had already lost the one thing that I most wanted before I even knew it was mine to take."

There was shadow of seriousness on Harry's face.

"There was a the painful realization of what I had wasted away unknowingly, and there was no hope of a second chance."

Despite her own embarrassment, Ginny blanched as Harry narrated the tough undoing of his innermost demons.

"I broke up with Cho the very same day I performed the spell, and waited and waited for that one stroke of luck which would make you break up with Dean and give me my second chance. But I just couldn't get away from those dreams I had about being lost in the flowery fragrance of your hair falling on my face and that blasted amortentia worsened the matters by sealing my fate by proving to me that I was inherently attracted to you in real life."

"But you still waited for a month, after Dean and I broke up, to let me know how you felt!"

"Because I wasn't sure if you held the same feelings for me as you did when you last kissed me on my birthday."

"Generally speaking people don't need to _know_ these things beforehand, Harry. Everyone takes a chance…. and what was your plan to _find out_ about my feelings?"

"The grand plan was to wait for another year until my next birthday and wait for that yearly kiss…err…ritual …."

"Harry! You can't have seriously considered that!"

"I did. I had no other option. I was too scared of rejection to come right out and ask you out without knowing for sure about your feelings."

"So then what changed today? Why did you kiss me like you did, in front of the whole Gryffindor House, without knowing how I felt about you?

"Ah, a tiny correction there; I _did_ know how you felt about me."

Ginny's eyes grew wide in surprise but the surprise was replaced by a mild suspicion that Harry was fibbing to get her waylaid.

"How? When?"

"The moment you came running at me with that hard, blazing look on your face..."

"I don't understand…"

"I saw a promising glimpse in your eyes…"

"A glimpse!"

"And confirmed it with _Legilimens_."

Ginny gasped.

"WHAT?"

"Yes, I can do _Legilimency _err_…_quite proficiently now – which means that when you hugged me after the match with that hard blazing look, I knew exactly how you felt for me deep in your heart."

Ginny was too shocked to react. Her mind was in deep freeze subconsciously going over the events of the entire evening.

"Say something."

Ginny merely shook her head and kept blinking.

_No wonder he was behaving like a cocky bastard the whole evening._

"Gin, I am sorry. I should have not done _Legilimens_ on you and I never pre-meditated about doing it on you even though I learned it more than a week ago."

"Then why did you…?" Ginny croaked.

"It just happened involuntarily. I didn't even realize I was doing it… and the next moment I was kissing you and you were kissing me back and…"

"Bloody hell Harry! That's just not fair."

"Don't be so upset, Gin. I couldn't help it. You invaded my dreams day and night and I agonized miserably for you all those lonely nights in this very chamber…I was going crazy with my dreams about your hair. Every time you sat next to me or even passed me by, my senses were captivated by the fragrance of these very red and gold tresses. And every time I saw your freckle…"

"The deuce…don't…did you stop doing it or you are still doing it?"

_Dang! She had hit the nail right on the head._

"Err…I don't even need to _do_ it now. It has become kind of involuntary and … persistent."

"So then you do know that I am going to murder you in this next instant…"

"And plead for involuntary manslaughter…"

"Harry!"

"And that you don't care if you don't get to bear _the cocky bastard's_ children – the tiny adorable green-eyed and redheaded Potters…"

"Harry! Stop it!"

"I can't!"

Ginny continued to give him the death glare.

"Gin, at least I owned it up. That's more than what you can say for yourself." Harry's smile was a far cry from any remorse that Ginny might have expected to see after a confession as grave as his.

Ginny was looking at him with guarded emotions although it was not too effective towards the cause.

X-X-X


	9. A Promise Unmade

**Chapter 9: A Promise Unmade, A Pledge Enlivened**

The downpour had subsided and dusk was beginning to color the palette of the sky with amazing shades of violet and purple. Ginny's pensive form was bathed in a glow of violet rays illuminating her flowing red hair into a vibrant spectrum as she stood against the backdrop of the transparent walls.

Harry observed a few lines of uncertainty in her darkened brown eyes narrowed slightly in concentration. The impatient lover in him wanted to gather her in his arms and kiss away all her fears but the patient friend in him wanted her to come to terms with the dilemma she was facing. Although no match in intensity, ultimately, caring far outweighed passion.

Harry walked over to Ginny to encircle her waist from behind and hunch down to rest his chin on her shoulder. He gently rocked their embracing forms from side to side drawing her closer into his body. The quivering pressure underlying his arms on her body sought to infuse her with confidence and assurance that it was alright to bare her soul to him.

"I wish I could bare my soul to you, Ginny," Harry whispered softly as he nuzzled her ear, "It feels and wishes for the same things as yours, it's the same as yours - completely, utterly, maddeningly yours."

Ginny closed her eyes and gave herself a few moments to let the truth in Harry's confession sink in. This was way beyond her dreams and her hopes had been dead and buried far too long. She tilted her head backwards and relaxed into him surrendering to his overture, completely. Harry gathered her closer, still closer.

She began to turn to face him but Harry held her firmly, "Mercy, Ginny. Don't turn around…or I'll die."

Ginny seemed to let it go as she mused on it for a moment but the next instant she turned around lightning fast, without giving Harry the opportunity to hold her back. She flung her arms around his neck tightly holding him with all the strength that her small arms could gather. She wanted to feel their oneness at that moment: etching on each others souls, a pledge of the finality of their oneness, beyond and farther than the realm of all or nothing.

Soft tears of overwhelming emotions glistened from Ginny's eyes and tickled down Harry's neck. He immediately tried to pull back to look at her but Ginny held him tighter to prevent him from moving away. Each tiny pressure of contact was a soothing salve on the scars of her raw and exposed emotions built up in layers of longing over the years.

"Give me the chance to make it up to you, Gin. I promise…"

"Don't… rush into promises, Harry. Your life is not easy, as it is. It never was, and I don't want to make it more difficult for you by holding you to any promises," Ginny hugged him tighter to cut him off.

Harry realized the vision, depth and understanding in Ginny's words as he held her tighter and let their bodies make their unspoken promises to each other: each pore made its intended promise to each cuticle; each finger was competing to hold tighter and closer.

"Make me a promise when you can give me your life. I want nothing less." Ginny ended their intense moment and finally pulled back to look at him with mirthful eyes.

Fighting hard the grin that refused to lie low despite the serenity of the topic, Harry replied, "My life? That's not even mine to begin with Ginny; a certain Dark Lord thinks it's his; anything else you can have it."

"I don't want anything else, Harry. It's all or nothing," Ginny re-iterated with a challenge.

"So you are okay with baring your soul to me? Forever? I'll know all the naughty thoughts that come to your mind on seeing me." Harry smiled as he felt relief beyond endurance that she was still with him in the realm of all or nothing.

Ginny was quiet but staring at him intently.

Harry was surprised at the lack of a feisty response from her until he gasped upon the realization that Ginny's stare was meant to give him a clear window into her thoughts. Images of Ginny sitting on top of him, dressed in the same sexy night dress she wore on the night she kissed him on the lips the first time, became visible to his mind; only this time his eyes were wide open and chock full of desire. The suddenness of the image of their almost naked bodies wreaked havoc on his senses as Ginny guided his hands over her smooth shoulders and the strap of her gown slipped down one creamy shoulder.

Harry almost shouted as he caught her face and crushed her to him stumbling against the transparent wall "GINNY! That is not a very wise thing to do. Baiting the hormones of a bloke who is seventeen. Trust me that is …"

"That _is_ exactly what I _want, _Harry; and I trust you, completely."

Harry drew back and looked into her eyes with uncertainty that lasted only a few breaths until he realized the true meaning of her words.

"The bait is as good as it promises to be." Ginny was dead serious and …_calm_.

Slowly, Harry bent his head as Ginny brought her hands to his face and kissed his scar softly. Harry dropped to his knees in front of her; she whispered more kisses on his forehead. They held each other for a long moment as Ginny rested her cheeks on top of Harry's head which rested somewhere near her waist.

Finally she slid her body down against his, once again the friction causing the desired effect on Harry's senses, but this time, Harry was immensely pleased as he knew that the purpose was not torment but - a pledge.

Ginny looked into his eyes as Harry stopped her at his eye level for a long moment. Neither said a word aloud but Ginny understood that Harry had read her mind; he was replying that he loved her too. With a Cheshire Cat smile Harry captured her lips leisurely and brought their bodies down to the floor together.

"The body is the carrier of the mind and soul" were the last words Harry read off Ginny's mind.

Ron was sitting with Hermione in the Gryffindor common room with his eyes drawn to the clock every other second.

"Ron, don't worry she is safe with Harry." Hermione tried her best to assuage his fears.

"Hermione, it's never safe to be around Harry."

"But that never stopped you from hanging around Harry."

"Yeah, I know. And so will Ginny."

Hermione was amazed to see the look of happiness hidden on Ron's face despite the mention of potential danger in being Harry's company. It felt as if he was almost proud that Ginny loved Harry despite the threat of Voldemort being after his life since forever.

"Besides, I am only worried about their getting caught. Harry cannot serve detention for her if they get caught."

"Don't worry Ginny is quite capable of serving detentions. And she has served plenty before this."

"Yeah, she might have, but not because of my best friend. And what the heck is he doing with her for so long anyway?"

"Four hours is hardly long enough for new lovers Ron."

"Don't call them lovers and he better have some good explanation."

"That's exactly what they are and you can do nothing about it now. And I doubt if he is going to give you any explanation at all about …"

"Well you can find out from Ginny about what they were…"

"And I will do no such thing, Ronald Weasely."

"Come on Hermione. As it is he was being a total prat by the lake when I went to fetch them for dinner."

"Really? What did he do?"

"Well, he kissed her right in front of me as if he was marking her as his territory. And it was not a sweet peck or anything. It was nothing even like the long moment they were lost in, when they kissed in the common room… lost, not in the physicality of the kiss, but, in the euphoria of the realization of their long lost dreams. This one was too physical and …"

"A passionate snog! Wow. Harry is …"

"A territorial wanker."

"That too …and brave and … foolish."

"Yeah and he better not be gone the whole night or I will…."

"Will what Ron?" Ginny's head appeared floating in the air.

Both Ron and Hermione jumped at her sudden appearance from under the invisibility cloak.

"Ginny! Good that you are err… back." The relief in Ron's voice was unmistakable.

"And I suppose you don't care if I came back at all or went to hell with Voldemort?" Harry's deep voice startled the duo.

"You git. It's midnight and way past curfew time. You promised you will not get her in trouble."

"Did I?" Harry replied in dual intent.

"Well, you could have."

"Besides what's a little detention in the way of passion and…"

Ginny smile turned into to an alarming blush at Harry's blatant challenge to Ron's brotherliness; she feared how far he would go on the line of being a territorial wanker.

As if asking for more torment, Ron interjected, "Harry what the hell you were doing with my sister for four hours?"

Both and Hermione and Ginny singed at Ron's tactlessness.

"Trust me Ron. You don't want to know about it," Harry replied with enough cheek and gall to send Ron completely over the edge.

Ginny's heart stopped beating for a few moments in anticipation of an intergalactic explosion from Ron.

Ron glared at Harry, severely handicapped by his anger, to find words to express his rage but to his own surprise, couldn't hold the harshness in his stare beyond a couple of seconds: Harry had silently mouthed _'I love her'_ with the sincerity of a lost lover for the benefit of Ron's eyes only.

Hermione and Ginny only witnessed the transformation of Ron's fire-lit face with clenched teeth into a heartwarming and forgiving smile in a matter of a few seconds.

"You git! Alright, goodnight girls. I have had enough for the day." Ron abruptly turned around to walk up the stairs as if in fear of bearing witness to Harry's next move on Ginny, if he stayed back any longer .

"Wait for me Ron." Harry however interrupted his departure.

"Goodnight, Hermione. Goodnight Ginny."

Ginny smiled sweetly at him relieved that Harry was done with winding up Ron for the night.

As if on cue Harry caught her and repeated his signature kiss right then, second by second, as Ron turned around and looked on in horror. He gave Hermione a helpless I-told-you-so look and finally gave up any attempt that he might have subconsciously made towards being understanding about it: Harry had bent his head a little lower to take a quick kiss of the freckle on Ginny's nape.

"OKAY. Okay. She is yours. I get it …even though I am her bloody brother and she is not yet a Potter."

_Exhibitionist git!_ Ginny overcame her furious blush and glared at Harry but was unable to hide her unmistaken adoration for her brave and foolish lover.

"It was not a display, Gin. I just wanted to take enough of you with me to last through the night." Harry whispered softly into her ears and walked away slowly to catch up with Ron.

Hermione watched the retreating duo in awe of their immitigable friendship. She turned around to look at Ginny only to find on her face the look of a woman who has nothing more left to give to her lover. She knew then, what the young lovers were up to for the four hours they had vanished.

"Good night, Ginny. Sweet dreams!"

X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X

9


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